Make a date with a friend to meet at a Monday Dinner, or come by yourself and make new friends! Either way, you'll get a great meal and a lot more--everyone wins!

Help publicize the Monday Dinners! An easy way to spread the word about our weekly community gathering is to click on the Tell-A-Friend link in the upper left of this page. Just fill out the form with the email addresses of up to two friends, along with any personal comments you'd like to add, and click Submit--this emails your comments along with pre-written details of the Dinners and a link to this website!

Another way to help is to post a copy of our Dinner Menus in public locations. For a pdf file suitable for printing, click here.

Chuck Olson, a kind and friendly presence at our Monday Dinners and monthly potlucks for many years, passed away on April 29. For more on Chuck, click here.

Fees are $890/adult, $450/youth aged 3 to 18; 5% discount for full payment by June 1. Partial stays and work exchange are possible. For information, call Carl Ferré at 800 232-2372, pick up a camp brochure at Dinner, or visit http://ohsawamacrobiotics.com.

Chef Gary Alinder has started a blog at http://macrochef.wordpress.com. Tune into Gary's views on a variety of subjects including food and health, and leave your comments! He has also posted a recipe archive which includes soups; main dishes; sauces, gravies, and dressings; and desserts and snacks.

For an interesting view of current health topics, check out the examiner.com online articles written by Suzanne Olson for the San Francisco Examiner. Suzanne is a regular at the Monday Dinners.

The North Bay Macrobiotic Potluck Group usually meets the first Sunday of each month in Santa Rosa, contact Stephen Starkweather
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), 707 542-9739,
http://www.northbaymacro.org.

Chuck Olson, a kind, friendly, and fun-loving presence at our Monday Dinners and monthly potlucks for many years, passed away on April 29. He often hosted the potluck from his home in Santa Clara. He was also a regular at meetings of the Widows and Widowers Association in Los Altos. He often came to dinner dressed in a suit, looking very dapper.

Chuck was a retired electrician. He served in the Air Force in Germany, flying in the B-36 bomber, one of the largest warplanes ever built. He often mentioned the fun that he had with his buddies in the Air Force, which was obvious from the way he told his stories.

From Newsletter Editor Gerard Lum, "Chuck was very helpful to me when a room in my house lost electrical power. A friend and I tried to figure it out, but we got nowhere. When I asked Chuck if he was an electrician, his eyes lit up and he asked, excitedly, 'You got a problem?' The problem was mysterious, requiring several visits; each time he came with a different piece of test equipment, which he really knew how to use. On the third or fourth trip, as some kind of test, he connected a long wire from the circuit breaker on the first floor to the room on the second floor. Something popped--whatever his test was supposed to do caused the power to come back on. He never did figure out what the problem was or how he solved it, but it has stayed on ever since. We laughed about it."

An avid member of the Electric Auto Association (EAA), Silicon Valley Chapter, he drove a 1965 Saab that had been converted to run on electricity, and which he modified to run on a higher voltage. He participated in the EAA Rallies, gave rides in his Saab, and displayed the vehicle when requested. He was recently in the process of converting a 1969 Saab, but heart problems prevented him from finishing.

Chuck is survived by his three daughters, who had arrived from out of state one day before he passed. He hadn't seen them in a couple of years and was really looking forward to their visit. From his friend Terry Wilson, "The last time I saw Chuck, his daughters had just arrived at his hospital bedside. He was grinning from ear to ear. That was the last image I have of Chuck."

A memorial service is scheduled on Tuesday, June 15th at 10 AM, at Mission City Memorial Park, in Santa Clara.

Thanks to Terry Wilson of the EAA, who contributed much of the above information.

$60/class or $55/each for two or more. To register, contact Patty Evans at 650 988-9342
For other activities by Meredith including events in Marin, visit http://healingcuisine.com or call 415 272-5525.

For information on macrobiotic activities in the East Bay, contact Macrobiotic Health Counselor Michelle Nemer in El Cerrito,
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or 510 527-4367.

The whole idea of compassion
is based on a keen awareness
of the interdependence of all these
living beings, which are all part of
one another, and all involved in
one another.

Thomas Merton

Reason is our soul's left hand,
faith her right, by these we reach divinity.

John Donne

If we have no peace, it is because
we have forgotten that we belong
to each other.

Mother Theresa

After-Dinner Events

Speakers receive a gratuity from the audience; please show your support and appreciation with a donation ($5-10 suggested).

On June 28, Holistic Nutritionist (Diet Counselor, Nutrition Educator) and Cookbook Author Meredith McCarty will speak on Low-Acid Eating: The Best of Macrobiotic, Vegan and Raw. Eating to balance your pH to slightly alkaline is a fascinating journey of self discovery. Macrobiotics is based on the values of proportion and balance for health and longevity. Macrobiotic teacher Herman Aihara's book, Acid & Alkaline, is a classic in the field. Learn how to make delicious and digestible cooked, as well as raw, sprouted and fermented foods. Learn which whole grains are the most alkaline forming, which sea salt is most mineral-rich, and how to reformulate your favorite dressings with significantly less fat.

Meredith became involved in macrobiotics in the 1970s, and worked as an Associate Editor for Natural Health magazine and a co-Director of the East-West Center for Macrobiotics in Eureka. She has written three very popular cookbooks: American Macrobiotic Cuisine, Fresh From a Vegetarian Kitchen, and the award-winning dessert cookbook Sweet and Natural. Meredith studied macrobiotics with Michio and Aveline Kushi and with Herman and Cornellia Aihara in the 1970s. She has a Senior Certificate in the Art of Cooking from the Kushi Foundation. She is an associate of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and has worked in educational programs with Drs. Benjamin Spock, Dean Ornish, John McDougall and Neal Barnard. Visit http://www.healingcuisine.com.

On July 12, longtime student and practitioner of macrobiotics Maral Haddeland and current Newsletter Editor Gerard Lum will host A Health Show-and-Tell. Join us for an informal community gathering, with more participation than our usual monthly lecture. We will ask each person to introduce him/herself, then share something health-related with the group—a cooking tip, a book you like, a favorite restaurant, a health practitioner you'd recommend, a service you provide, a cause you're involved with, etc. Health questions are encouraged-perhaps someone in the group can help. The idea is to build connections, share knowledge, draw upon the group wisdom of our community—and have fun!

In the 1970s, after watching a friend use macrobiotics to overcome a chronically tired condition, Maral immersed herself in studies with teachers Michio Kushi, Herman and Cornellia Aihara, and Patrick and Meredith McCarty. Gerard has been Newsletter Editor since 1990, sets up speakers and other activities of the PMC, maintains the website, and photographs for Macrobiotics Today magazine. He has worked as an engineer and currently designs and maintains websites.

You can enjoy hardy greens raw, so that the precious living enzymes remain intact. By removing the midribs and finely slicing the greens, and then marinating them for at least an hour, they are rendered tender enough to enjoy while maintaining their bright color. A mixture of regular oranges and red blood oranges are especially beautiful in this salad.

After enjoying a raw kale salad at our local raw restaurant, Café Gratitude, I was thrilled to see a recipe like this one in Martha Stewart Living. I've changed the recipe somewhat and lowered the volume of nuts and oil to get fat calories in the healthy range.

3 large oranges, peels cut off and discarded, segments cut in half on the diagonal

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar diluted with 1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon lightly toasted hazelnuts, chopped

1. In a large bowl, mix kale with orange juice that comes from cutting out segments, and squeezing orange pulp over the greens to extract the juice.

2. In a small bowl, mix vinegar, water, oil, salt and pepper. Pour dressing over kale, toss well, and marinate for at least an hour or two, tossing occasionally. To preserve color, toss in orange segments just before serving. (You can make this dish a day ahead and marinate it in the refrigerator.)

Email Notification of Newsletter: To receive an email notification each time the Newsletter and Dinner Menus are published on this site (every two months),
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Mailing List Policy: To get a printed copy of the Newsletter and Dinner Menus delivered by postal mail,
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or call the phone number below. To offset the expense of producing the Newsletter and Menus, we suggest a contribution of $10/year or more. The date and amount of your last newsletter contribution appears on your mailing label. Write checks to "Peninsula Macrobiotic Community", and mail to Gerard Lum, 101 E. Middlefield Road #9, Mountain View, CA 94043, 650 903-0447.

We periodically review our mailing list. Those who have not made a recent contribution are subject to removal.

Tax-Deductible Contributions: We welcome and can use additional contributions to the Peninsula Macrobiotic Community, as income from the Dinners does not pay all of our expenses. We are a nonprofit organization, so additional contributions are fully tax-deductible. Send contributions to the address in Mailing List Policy above.